Lakeland Village: Truck Struck, Killed Cyclist Harry Dettloff

By Allen, Flatt, Ballidis & Leslie

Shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 1st, the driver of a pickup truck struck and killed 46-year-old cyclist Harry Dettloff, of Lake Elsinore, in Lakeland Village. While traveling southbound on Grand Avenue at about 40 miles per hour in a Nissan Frontier, 60-year-old Patrick Wattson drifted onto the right shoulder and collided with Dettloff, who was riding southbound at the time. The impact threw him to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities cited distraction as the reason Wattson allowed the truck to drift onto the shoulder of the road.

Traffic accidents involving a distracted driver claimed the lives of 3,092 people and injured another 416,000 in the United States in 2010, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency indicates that driver distractions range from texting or talking to eating or drinking, adjusting the navigation system or stereo, or talking to passengers.

All of us at Allen, Flatt, Ballidis, and Leslie would like to offer our condolences to the family of Harry Dettloff, the cyclist the truck struck and killed.